An EXCECPTIONAL PAON Carlsbad Paul Hobbs Wine Dinner with speaker Matt Hobbs, Paul’s brother, narrating the evening beginning with a 2016 Crossbarn Chardonnay and tray passed Amuse Bouche (salmon, tuna, puff pastry, and cucumber mini delicacies).  Dinner started with Potato Leek Vichyssoise paired with a 2015 Richard Vineyard Chardonnay.  Compared to Crossbarn’s crisp taste from stainless steel aging with malolactic fermentation, the Richard Chardonnay had more depth based on French Oak aging.  A great contrast with both being perfect for their courses.
The second course featured a Pan Roasted Sea Bass with organic vegetables, roasted fingerling potatoes, and a red wine reduction sauce complemented with a 2016 Estate Grown Russian River Pinot Noir with cherry and blackberry notes, firm tannins, and cola hints as well as a 2016 Pinot Noir sourced from Hyde Vineyard.  This second Pinot had a bit more depth with black fruits and cherry, perfect as we got further into the meal.
The third course was a mouth-watering, on-the-bone New Zealand Venison shank with roasted turnips, rhubarb compote, and Spatzele paired with a third Pinot Noir, a 2013 Paul Hobbs Lindsay Vineyard with 3 years more age promoting extra depth and silky smoothness with cherry, mocha, earth and baking spices features.  This was followed with a 2014 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon with depth and complexity featuring cassis balanced with boysenberry notes.
Desert was an Arborio Rice Pudding with fruits and raspberry coulis and a marriage proposal that contributed to the EXCEPTIONAL evening - Congrats to Glenn Zacher and Tricia Hopper.
Following the PAON Carlsbad Paul Hobbs Wine Dinner festivities, Senior Editor Frank and Tech Director Rico were introduced to Paul Hobbs Armenian wines.  Was great learning about the history of their effort from Matt Hobbs as he explained that Armenia is where wine was thought to have originated from over 6,000 years ago.  Paul Hobbs’ passion and curiosity lead to the initial Paul Hobbs-Yacoubian family journey effort that began several years ago with a goal of creating a compelling niche wine.  We sampled the 2015 Yacoubian-Hobbs Dry Areni and 2015 Yacoubian- Hobbs Sarpina both with notes of red cherries, raspberries, red currants, and dried fruits, the former having stronger structure and tannins and Sarpina having softer tannins with hints of chocolate, caramel, and vanilla. 
Was exciting to enjoy wines from the genesis of wine makers over 6,000 years ago!  From the Paul Hobbs Winery website – “With their local team, Paul and the Yacoubians are growing and crafting wines that confirm Armenia’s part not only in the ancient history of winemaking, but in its very relevant present and future amongst the great wine regions of the world.”

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Looking for dinner after #delmarraces check out #ilfornaiodelmar Campania menu, part of the Festa Regionale, for a taste of Naple’s Almafi coast running 6-19 August. Senior Editor, Frank, and Tech Director, Rico, were able to try much of the menu starting with Pummarole e Capri (Caprese) - chopped heirloom tomatoes and a melt in your mouth creamy buffalo mozzarella paired with a 2016 Falanghina having notes of banana on the front and peaches on the back palate. Next was Gatto alla Napulitana, a 5-star flavor explosion - mashed potato cake binding deli meats and cheeses baked in the oven. MULTI BENE! Paired with an Aglianico-based Rose. Be on the lookout for #tasteofwineandfoodcolumn in the next several weeks featuring Roses. We next shifted over to pasta e risotto starting with Strangularaprievete e Surriento - long gnocchi that was named for causing a priest to chock on the longer shaped pasta size with mozzarella and tomato sauce baked in the oven and Risotto Amalfi, packed with shrimp, mussels, clams, calamari, and roasted peppers. Both were paired with a Fiano-Greco white blend having mineral and full-bodied notes. For secondi, we had Spigula Dinto o Cuoppo (Branzino-sea bass) baked in parchment paper to keep the moistness of the fish and bake in the shrimp, mussel, and clams flavor served with fresh green peas sautéed with pancetta. Really liked the pancetta flavoring in the peas. And the Scalupppine a Salernitana – veal sautéed with San Marzano tomatoes and mozzarella con marinated egg plant and roasted Yukon potatoes. This was paired with a 2015 Terredoa di Paolo Aglianico ($14). Great cherry notes on the nose with deep red color along with pepper and cacao on the back palate. Very tasty at $14! We also mustered up enough appetite to have the Delizia al Limone – lemon sponge cake with a light and airy lemon pastry cream. Thank you Asst GM Walter for a great evening and sharing your commentary on the delicious wines and food, Devon for being a great and attentive server, and Tally for a warm hostess welcome. Look forward to coming back to Il Fornaio soon. 
#ricotowaf #franktowaf #delmar #ilfornaio #ilfornaiodelmar